Oeuvres de Salomon Gessner Traduits de l'Allemand

A Zuric chez l'Auteur, 1777. FIRST EDITION. 2 volumes. Large 4to, 257 x 195 mms., pp. [xvi], 184; [3], 4 - 190, engraved title-page in each volume, separate engraved title-page in volume 1 for Contes Moraux, list of subscribers in volume 1, 10 full-page engraved plates in each volume, engraved head- and tail-pieces (39 in all) for each tale or section, early 19th century half calf, spotted boards (a little worn). A fine set, with very fresh impressions of the (often erotic) plates. The Swiss painter Salomon Gessner (1730-1788) began life as an apprentice to a bookseller in Berlin, seeming to follow in the footsteps of his father, a bookseller, printer, and publisher. This is certainly one of the most attractive editions of Gessner's works, even in a French translation. Gessner was responsible for choosing the illustrations, and the erotic overtones of many of the engravings perhaps enjoyed a more robust reception in this French translation. Copac locates a copy at the NLS in these islands, and there appear to be numerous copies in North America and Europe. Leemann-van Elck, Salomon Gessner, p. 113 and no. 539; Maler und Dichter der Idylle S. Gessner (1980), no. 88; Goedeke IV, 1, 82, 11; Rümann 329; Lanckoronska/Oehler II, 164; Cohen/de Ricci 432; Lonchamp 329. Not in Meyer.